LITTLE ROCK — Identifying the most difficult SEC football schedule in the upcoming season is a three-step process:
• Assess the strength of each team’s non-conference opponents.
• Eliminate those with the weakest quartet of foes.
• Factor in the strength of each team’s cross-division rivals.
After step two, schedules of half of the league teams are discarded without reservation.
Immediately, Arkansas gets the heave-ho with the least threatening foursome of Portland State, Colorado State, San Jose State and Western Kentucky.
Also dumped quickly are Mississippi State and Kentucky. The Bulldogs’ most noteworthy opponent is Kansas State, 5-7 in Bill Snyder’s final year in 2018, and Kentucky’s headliner is Louisville, 2-8 before Bobby Petrino was fired in November.